Works Cited and Recommended Resources

Works Cited

These sources provided the specific data and philosophical arguments for the construction of Chapter 14.

• Camus, Albert. The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays. Translated by Justin O’Brien, Vintage International, 1991. (The primary text for The Absurd and the metaphor of Sisyphus).

• De Beauvoir, Simone. The Ethics of Ambiguity. Translated by Bernard Frechtman, Philosophical Library/Open Road, 2018. (The definitive source for the tension between Facticity and Transcendence).

• Nussbaum, Martha. Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities. Princeton University Press, 2010. (A contemporary defense of the practical, democratic value of philosophical education).

• Sartre, Jean-Paul. Existentialism is a Humanism. Edited by John Kulka, Yale University Press, 2007. (The essential introduction to Radical Freedom, Bad Faith, and the claim that Existence Precedes Essence).

• Various Authors. “The Rise of Philosophy Majors.” The Daily Nous / Washington Post / New York Times. (Synthesized data regarding philosophy majors’ performance on the LSAT, GRE, and mid-career salary growth).

Recommended References

For those looking to continue their “Experiments in Consciousness” or deepen their understanding of the “Life Worth Living.”

Existentialism & The Human Condition

• Bakewell, Sarah. At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails. Other Press. (A highly readable narrative history of the existentialist movement and its key players).

• Frankl, Viktor. Man’s Search for Meaning. Beacon Press. (A psychiatrist’s memoir on finding meaning in the most extreme circumstances, bridging psychology and existentialism).

• Kierkegaard, Søren. Fear and Trembling. (For those interested in the religious roots of existentialism and the “leap of faith”).

Aesthetics & The Value of Beauty

• Aristotle. Poetics. (The foundational text on how art—specifically tragedy—functions as a form of emotional education).

• Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. Penguin Books. (A classic text that helps develop an “aesthetic eye” by deconstructing how we look at art and media).

• Scarry, Elaine. On Beauty and Being Just. Princeton University Press. (A short, beautiful argument for how the appreciation of beauty makes us more ethical and attentive to justice).

Philosophy in Practice

• Epictetus. The Enchiridion (The Handbook). (The ultimate “manual” for Stoic resilience and focusing on what is within your control).

• Irvine, William B. A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy. Oxford University Press. (A modern adaptation of Stoic techniques for the 21st century).

• Midgley, Mary. Philosophy as a Plumbing. (An essay explaining why philosophy is a practical necessity for the “pipes” of our collective thought).